In Rafa we should trust

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I received this email from Mohammed Sami Faizullah, it is excellent. YNWA Mohammed.

I've been thinking about it long and hard. This question has been stuck in my
head- Am i pro-rafa or anti-rafa? 

I think ive got the answer, im not pro or anti rafa, im Pro-Liverpool. I care
in the best interest of liverpool. And looking back on the season so far. We
have been poor, very poor. 

Does Rafa deserve to evade blame? No he doesnt. He has made mistakes, with
tactics, substitutions, team selection, transfers blah blah blah. He is the
manager, and ultimately the blame comes on him.
Thats the normal working of the world. 

But should we continue with the normal working of the world and sack Rafa? No,
we shouldnt, cause we are not normal, we are the most trophy-rich club in
England. Who cares if we are not on top of the league, or we dont have the
finances of Chelsea and Mancity etc. We still love this club. And we want this
club to be where it once was.And that will come with consistency, and
stability. We need to think long-term, not short-term. 

Do we really want to become like Chelsea, and change our manager as frequently
as them?! And Have absolutely no stability? Chelsea spend maximum number amount
on wages, demand 'instant sucess' (thats why Rafa has seen 5 different chelsea
managers himself.) and yet they havent won the league in the past 3 season, nor
have they won the UCL.  

Do we want to change with the modern times? Yes, we are, new stadium, naming
rights, more foreigners, yes we are changing with the times, but we can proudly
say that we dont forget our age-old traditions. We can very much be proud of
that fact. We can be proud of the fact that Rafa is still incharge of the club
despite what has gone on this season. We can be proud he hasnt been sacked. We
can be proud that the club actually cares about its staff. Look at Chelsea,
they sacked Scolari cause he was coming 2nd in the league, drew 0-0 at home (i
repeat, drew, not lost), very much in the UCL, very much in the FA Cup. Look at
mancity, they sacked Eriksson despite the fact that they did a double over
their rivals and broke their own record of points. Sacked Hughes despite
loosing only 2 matches all season. I repeat- TWO matches!!

Its not the perfect example, but i think we should take a lesson from the books
of manu. We all hate manu, yes we do. But as much as i hate Ferguson, i admire
the fact that he has been in charge for over 20 years. Purslow has said it
before and has reinterated it again- liverpool are looking for long-term. As
Gillett said before- its just a small blip. We want long-term stability which
will amount to success. 

This has been a poor season, and thats a fact. Rafa deserves some blame- fact.
Owners deserve blame- fact. PLayers deserve blame- fact. But its also a fact
that refs, bad luck, injuries etc deserve blame. 

Yes Rafa has made some wrong decisions. But could he help some of the
astonishing decisions refs have made against us? Could he have moved the beach
ball away? Can he help the injuries (having said that, his fitness team really
deserve a thrashing.). 

There was a thread on this as well- did we get lucky last season? Was last
season a fluke? I would hate to think so. 

It remains a fact that if we had our full-team available for all our matches,
we would not be where we are. And i dont just mean Gerrard and Torres. I mean
the Benayouns, Aggers, Johnsons, Aurelios, Aquilanis, and after the spurs game
i realised how much we missed and how much i have under-rated Reira. Lucas has
picked up his game, but with the injuries to his team-mates, credits havent
come his way. I wanted Degen gone long back. Seeing his performance recently, i
realise i might have regretted it.

If our current squad had been fully fit throughout the season, we could have
continued our momentum from last season. I sit down time and again, thinking
and watching videos from last season and wonder where it all went wrong. I feel
like crying seeing what one year has done. But whos to say that we cant be back
next season? We surely can!  

You can always blame rafa for not making enough transfers, but take a moment to
think about it. Those fans who boo during the matches. Think about it. Next
season, when we are back in the title race (which im sure we will), remember
the main FACT which each and everyone can be proud of, think of the whole
season, think of the spurs game. And tell all those manu, chelsea, arsenal
fans, that we supported our manager in the hardest of times. We were 8th, but
we supported him, we got KO of the UCl, but we supported him. Remember the
words of YNWA: "At the end of the storm, is a golden sky". Be proud of the fact
that we went the Liverpool Way and supported our manager. And when we finally
see Rafa lifting the BPL trophy, we can be proud to say that we ALWAYS
supported him. Thinking of that picture makes me smile. I am not saying that
criticising Rafa makes you less of Liverpool fans, hell no! We can always
discuss that. But until he is our manager, support
 him! 

With a few additions next season, we can be genuine contenders. Our current
team is one of the strongest in the Premier League. On their day they can beat
anyone. And that will happen this season, when we destroy teams
left-right-centre, we will look back and cry at the fact that we didnt have the
whole team available for the whole season. But we all will smile at the
prospects of next season. I can assure you that!

"Form is temporary, Class is permenant". I realise the true meaning of that
statement. Its almost as if though i have got enlightenment. I feel so much
better to know that im supporting Rafa. I can look back from a few seasons from
now and proudly say "i supported the manager through thick and thin".
Or i could look back and say "i shamefully called for his sacking when he
actually was the right man".

I have so much more to say right now, the thoughts are just boiling over one
another in my head. But my hands are throbing with pain  

Sorry if this was too long, but please read about what i have said, and think
about it. And when the pain is gone, i will share more of my thoughts.

Im not pro or anti rafa, im pro-Liverpool.

Keep the faith.
YNWA  .

9 Comments

  1. Fantastic and written with heart from a true Red. Great stuff Sami.

    Honestly I’m getting sick and tired of hearing about having no money for transfers and/or injuries to Stevie or Nando, which are all part and parcel of the game and it happens everywhere. Every manager will wish for a first team injury-free squad for a whole season. I just wonder if that means they will definitely win the title?

    I believe we have a fairly large squad and I am just frustrated that the young starlets are not given the opportunity to prove themselves. Obviously Rafa can’t expect them to deliver instant results but if they ain’t playing first team football, are they going to be diminished in the second string? Or resigned to the reserves kick-about or other clubs come poaching because they recognise the rarely used talent that we have.

    We are already where we are this season. I really hope the young lads get a taste of what it’s like to prep them for exposure next season, even if new players do come in by end month.

    YNWA!

  2. Superb and my sentiments exactly.
    Riera has definitely one we missed as he gave us width..I think well demolish ANYONE with him playing left and Maxi on the right with Nando ahead of Aquaman and Stevie playing deeper in front of Monster Masch.

  3. Totally agree with the article, and Jevon comment, about who should play where, I think that that would be our winning combination.

  4. WELL Written MAte !!! keep it up!!!..Its just a matter of time when we shall weather this “storm” and rush ahead..Although i don’t quite agree with you that our team is perfect..but ya we are STRONG team..and quite frankly have underperformed at times..I also am pro-liverpool fc first …and RAFA is our MAN..WE may find a coach of more REPUTE to replace him…But the ordeal that he is going through just because he LOVES the club and wants to prove its WORTH..THAT TENACITY,THAT PASSION..has no replacements..GO REDS!! HAIL LIVERPOOL FC!! HAIL RAFA!! YNWA!!

  5. 2 points to mention:

    Our rich heritage and pedigree: I believe that the culture and tradition of Liverpool football is falling away. I believe the current players and probably management don’t repsect the old traditions and culture. Why don’t most of our players touch the “This is Anfield” board when exiting the tunnel anymore? Because our traditions and routes (and possibly pride) are being forgotten. and NO it is NOT because we have so many foreign players, Hyppia, Hamman, they all kept the tradition. Our players and staff need to go back to basics, team, dedication, commitment and loyalty. That is not your leg but Liverpool’s leg!

    2. The only players to remain from the Champions League winning team of 04-05 are Steven and Jammie, the 2 local lads. Rafa has managed to take an inspirational team, who achieved the near impossible greatest come-back in world football, and instead of improving the team has allowed it to free-fall. Yes, the buck stops with the manager. He is the man responsible for it all, if it’s not working, change it, the captain, the team, the fitness programme etc.

    I am a true red and still wear my colours with pride but is saddens me deeply to see the state our team in in 10 losses in 20? Sounds like a relagation team not a championship team.

    Liverpool is “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and NOT “There’s always next year”

  6. Thanks for the compliments guys. Just keep the faith ;) !

    JonoDragon: Agree with you mate, not many of our players touch the TIA sign, but that is not to say that they dont loev the club, or they dont have the passion, Gerrard, Carra, Torres, Kuyt, Reina etc all love this club even if they dont touch the sign. And its sad, but its the truth, that this is a modern world, and your going to get only modern players, nt players with tradition.

    What rafa guided us to in )05 was a miracle, and we desreved it. But i think we have a better squad right now then we did then. Im not sad to see players like Traore, Biscan, even Cisse etc. leave the club

    Rasahi: im not on twitter, hope to join sometime soon though. But i am on Facebook.=)

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